Aksai Chin, whose possession has been disputed by China since 1959, together with part of Kashmir itself. Last year she nearly lost her previously very safe Labour seat over another local/international ferment, this time over Gaza.

That last continues to vex. In this PMQs Leicester’s Shokat Ali (Independent) called on the PM to ‘end all UK military co-operation with Israel’ in the light of the latter’s ‘extermination’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Gazan civilians. Starmer replied that much of what Ali said was ‘simply not right’ and reiterated his standard line on the two-state solution, with humanitarian aid and the release of hostages. The prospects for success there - and for controlling Muslim dissent here - seem as slim as for putting out a Tesla battery fire.

Speaking of EVs, Mike Wood (Conservative) pointed out that Parliament has banned them in its underground car park for safety reasons yet the new Planning and Infrastructure Bill inhibits local authorities from banning the construction of battery energy storage systems near sensitive areas. Sir Keir said the Bill (which has power to override local objections and nature safeguards) would ‘drive’ the economy and that the OBR identified it as the ‘single biggest driver of growth.’

Power devolved is power retained, as the saying goes. There is a tension between Labour’s plans for progressive devolution and its appetite for authoritarian centralisation. The result is a growing public perception that we are a sham democracy.

This is why Prime Minister’s Questions are so important, and so disappointing. We are in the 64th month of our freedom from the EU and our representatives are still fluffing opportunities to call reinvigorated national power to account.

Last week the Leader of the Opposition’s inquisitorial failure was about the great scandal and cover-up of ‘grooming gangs.’ Today, the principal exchanges were about energy policy; they swirled around the now-cancelled winter fuel allowance, employment, the cost of domestic heating, ‘clean energy’ and so on. The PM countered with his measures to alleviate pensioner poverty, the Conservatives’ poor economic record and what they themselves had previously said about Net Zero, and how much Labour was spending into the economy.

Kemi did briefly quote Tony Blair’s comments about Net Zero (‘irrational’, ‘doomed to fail’) but Blair, who says he talks frequently to Starmer, was himself an early ‘global warmist.’ It may that Blair was airing his latest view for tactical reasons pre-May the First, hoping to persuade the electorate that Labour does indeed listen (and so should remain in power to complete his program of constitutional disruption that will make a return to small-c conservative values impossible.)

The Tories need to come clean and say:

‘Yes, we were wrong then and so are you now. Without abundant cheap energy our economy faces collapse. Like the US, we have to exploit fossil fuels heavily while we manage a transition to something more sustainable such as nuclear reactors and hydroelectric plants. Even windmills and solar panels are not ‘green’ when you take into account recycling issues, and the recent blackouts in Spain and Portugal show the strain on power grids caused by erratic inputs.’

Something along those lines. It is not just about oldies eating cold food with mittened hands, it is a national emergency.

Where is the focus, the drilling down that is needed to discomfit the PM (and his strange Energy Secretary) so that his replies can be exposed as inadequate prevarication to protect an unreflective dogmatism/hqdefault.jpg" width="100%" style="padding-left: 0px;" alt="At the flicks - PMQs 7th May 2025" title="At the flicks - PMQs 7th May 2025">